markdown for writing fiction

[Quantum]

i've been using openoffice, which works fine, but i'm thinking of trying markdown b/c i don't want to be locked into a specific file format plus plain text would make diffing a lot easier.

i just downloaded a book, Markdown for Writers (on Smashwords) (Markdown for Writers). the book states that nanomiwro writers have been using it.

it looks pretty promising. the storage format is plain text which means i'm not locked into a specific editor and you can diff it using a typical source control system (git, for example). they have free editors that export to html, rtf, epub, .mobi. you can split it into different files for ease of collaboration, modularity, more discrete source control, and even scripting. it's used widely in the open source software community (like github).

has anyone tried markdown and any editors like iA Writer?

[Missy]

I haven't tried Markdown, but I'm an avid and happy user of Scrivener. You might want to check it out. It's a text based program with a lot of great organizational features. You can compile your manuscript to a variety of different file formats, and break down each chapter into folders and scenes. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's well worth it!

[Ken]

Another vote for Scrivener. I don't use the compile feature because I hand-code my own ePubs, but it's great for everything else.

[Micah]

Another Scivener fan here. I haven't used the compile feature either, not sure if I will, as I also have so far built my own html files.

That said, the main functions of Scrivener I've found to be intuitive, and very useful/powerful. It's made organizing my haphazard research, notes, timelines, and random ideas easy and rapidly accessable.

Great tool all 'round.

[[deleted user]]

Micha, how useful would this be for someone to use editing a work they've never seen before? Thanks

[Catherine]

Morris wrote: "Micha, how useful would this be for someone to use editing a work they've never seen before? Thanks"

A while back I asked other writers on my twitter page what they used. Scrivener came up a lot, but to edit they often exported using word's track changes features. You may also export as pdf and edit using DC pro but that functionality is a little clunky

I tried Scrivener and can see the benefits but there was too much going on for me. I'm a minimalist when it comes to my work and use MS Word.

[G.G.]

Morris wrote: "Micha, how useful would this be for someone to use editing a work they've never seen before? Thanks"

I don't know but I once had an editor who relied on words to edit. Never again. I can understand an author using it to help minimize the mistakes, but any program used to edit contents unknown by the user is bound to fail. Personally, I wouldn't trust the editor who does that when I could do it myself for free. :/

[Micah]

Morris wrote: "Micha, how useful would this be for someone to use editing a work they've never seen before? Thanks"

I don't think Scrivener would give much lift TO an editor, although it can be used by an author upon receiving an edited version back in something like Word with Track Changes on.

It is easy to add notes and such in Scrivener. It's easy to turn sections of text into their own document, and then move that section around. But I'm not sure about tracking changes. And it would only really make sense to use it when both the editor and author are using it.

Here's an article about how one author uses Scrivener in the editing process ... sending a Word doc, getting back a Word doc with Track Changes. But if you look at the end of Section 3 where it talks about Snapshots, there's some interesting stuff about its Snapshot feature: http://www.jamierubin.net/2012/10/26/...

[Chuck]

I've used Markdown to convert old, public domain texts from PDF scanned images to EPUB, and I wrote my second book in Markdown on Leanpub. I like Markdown better because

1. It can be converted to many other formats via Pandoc or other software.
2. It is less intrusive and easier to read than HTML.
3. It's easier to remember the formatting codes because most EPUB readers are limited to very basic formatting: bold, italic, headers, and some support lists, images, links, and that's it.

[Quantum]

Thx, Chuck! I haven't gotten to trying markdown yet, but I'm going to use sublime on OS X as the editor b/c a programmer at work used it for JavaScript programming. Have you tried splitting into multiple files like chapters?